Wrong Name
by Kat-Anni
Summary: You know that feeling, names are fleeting, and sometimes you call people the wrong ones. This is a collection (until now just for Elrond but I might add more) of those situations. First one: Elrond calls Estel Elros by accident. Angst ensues. The twins are there and reflecting. Family, adopted family, no slash. What do you mean this is a fanfic without Legolas? (until now)


_Again this was inspired by a tumblr post talking about how Elrond probably called many generations of Numenorians 'Elros' I imagine with Estel/Aragorn especially it was probably a thing that happened and caused a lot of hurt all around._

 _Enjoy! ;D_

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 **Wrong Name**

The first time it happened, Aragorn didn't know what it meant. He didn't even know his name was Aragorn yet.

Little Estel had been in the garden with his Ada. Lord Elrond was reading a book by the tree while he himself roamed around freely, picking flowers, talking to the half distracted elf lord, and then, deciding to climb trees.

Well, one tree in particular, namely the one his Ada was leaning against. He snickered at the thought of being able to surprise him from above, with a short 'boo!' maybe. For a second, he wondered what his Ada was reading, as he seemed very absorbed but at the same time hadn't turned a page in a while. Maybe he was lost in thought or memory, Estel knew even at this age that this happened sometimes with older people. They had a lot of life to reflect on.

Deciding that it was no matter and Elrond definitely needed a distraction, then, he began climbing. One foot on a branch, then the next, in the beginning careful, then more carefree as he got higher, believing he clearly had the hang of it. Climbing was fun!

"Ada, look how high I got!" his achievement was more important to him than scaring his Ada now, he felt proud upon actually almost reaching the top of the tree. Elrond jolted anyway, clearly being shaken out of deep thought, if not sleep, and searched for his smallest son in the branches.

"What- Oh no." he mumbled, quickly getting up from his sitting position.

"Estel? Why did you go up there? Can you come back down?"

"Why? The view is so good up here! You should join me, Ada." He chuckled and indeed, he could see much of the valley from up this tree. Then he looked down and saw the worry on Elrond's face, bordering on distress. That was also the moment he noticed how far down his Ada was.

And how far down the ground was.

A sound he was not proud of exited his lips and he felt himself clinging to the branch he had just loosely grabbed before. A short pause was between them and then Estel whispered:

"I'm scared."

Suddenly, movement rushed into Elrond. He was up the tree faster than Estel had thought possible in his fine robes, his steps were careful but secure, always hitting the right branches, climbing higher and higher.

"Take my hand." Elrond offered when he was close enough. Estel stared, not sure if he could really let go of the branch he was clinging to, even with one hand. It felt less stable than he had initially thought it would and his hands and knees were trembling.

"Can't" he pressed between his lips.

"Yes, you can. You climbed up, now you can climb down. Come on, I will help you." Was it just his imagination or was his Ada's gaze still a little glazed and far off? He could not pay attention to it, the grip on the branch gathered all of his attention.

"Okay." He finally swallowed and carefully lifted his hand off the branch, stretching it toward his Ada. With a smile, Elrond took it and guided him in which branch was safe or not, as they slowly made their way down.

Knees still shaking, Estel exhaled slowly, halfway down he was sure he was safe again, with this Ada's hand in his and the ground being much closer. But just as he was thinking this, his attention slipped –

And he felt his foot slip as well.

The next events were happening so fast that he would later have trouble remembering them in order.

Estel gasped, feeling his behind make contact with the branch and hearing a loud CRACK. His hand had slipped out of his Ada's and he saw Elrond whirl around.

"Elros!" he screamed and Estel didn't have time to be confused that his name wasn't Elros but Estel, and that he was currently falling off the tree he had previously been so proud to climb.

Before any further thought could form or any sensation register, he was already on the ground, air leaving his lungs from the force. A pained groan escaped his lips.

His Ada was there in the next second, feeling his limps and touching his torso as if to search for broken bones. A second later he felt himself being wrapped in strong arms, squished against his father's torso and buried in his fine robes.

"I'm sorry, oh Valar, I'm so sorry." Elrond whispered and for a few seconds, Estel didn't know what to do. His back hurt a little, but otherwise he was fine. Why was his Ada shaking?

"Ada?" he asked carefully. Elrond's grip only tightened. "Ada, I'm fine. It's okay." As best as he could, Estel freed his arms and pat his Ada's torso in comfort as most adults did with him when he wasn't feeling well.

Apparently, their little accident had been louder than they thought, because in the next second, Estel heard different voices and felt another hand on his back.

"Ada? Estel? Are you alright?"

"What happened?" asked two identical voices from either side. His brothers. To his further distress, his Ada still did not answer.

"I climbed the tree but couldn't get back down. Ada helped me, but I slipped. I'm fine though." Estel added the last part when he saw out of the corner of his eyes how his brother's gaze flew over his frame in search of a hurt and his hand on his back tensed.

"Ada?" Elrohir asked, the one closer to his father, and touched the lord's back.

Finally, Elrond's grip around his youngest son loosened, but the subtle shaking had not stopped.

"I should have caught him. Like last time when…" he closed his eyes and Estel now noticed how misty they were, not just from tears but something else. The grey eyes that were usually so sharp seemed stormy and lost now. Grey met grey when Elrond met his gaze now and suddenly, his Ada stood, averting his gaze from him completely.

"Can you make sure he's okay? I need to …go. Somewhere."

And with that, he was gone.

For a moment, there was silence. His brothers looked at each other, clearly concerned. So his Ada's behaviour wasn't only strange to him. Elrohir nodded and went after their father with hurried steps while Elladan turned to Estel.

"Does something hurt?" he asked, his fingers expertly drawing over all the mayor bones in his body that could have been hit by the fall, including the back of his head.

"No, I'm fine." Estel mumbled. "What's wrong with Ada?" he countered after a few seconds. Elladan's hand stopped for a moment but then continued its search.

"I don't know. Elrohir will make sure he's okay, too." He assured, but Estel wasn't satisfied. He felt that he was still frowning deeply, something gnawed at his brain.

"Da?"

"Yes?"

"Who is Elros?"

This time, the searching hands stopped completely and Elladan turned to him fully, shoulders slumping and head tilting.

"Where did you hear that name?" he asked carefully, as if the topic was a delicate one and the name only touched with soft silken gloves.

"Ada called me that when I fell."

Realization seemed to strike down the twin. His eyes widened and immediately, his gaze flew to where his father and brother had left. His muscles tensed and Estel just knew that he was burning to run after their father as well. But instead he took a deep breath and turned around to his little brother again, forcing a smile.

"Someone very important to Ada." He said, ringing for words to further explain.

"Oh! Can I meet him?" Estel smiled, but he also felt his brother's mood at the question dropping further, so he didn't feel that good about asking it in the first place.

"No. Unfortunately, he has passed." It felt like it was only half the story, but probably the only half he was going to get.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Estel was suddenly very interested in the grass beneath and plucked at a few of the strands.

"Do not be, you could not know. Just refrain from mentioning it when Ada is present, alright?"

"Okay." Estel nodded.

"Now, do you think you can show me how much you are still ticklish?" the grin on the twin's face was dirty and Estel's eyes widened.

"No!" he screamed in fake panic and scrambled to flee from his brother's wiggling fingers.

"It took me a while, but Ada is finally sleeping." A voice woke Estel from his half slumber. It was Elrohir, entering the room carefully and without much noise. The child in bed tried to keep his breathing even so the twins wouldn't notice that he was awake. Elladan had been with him all evening, finally putting him to bed and picking up a book as if waiting for something. Maybe he had waited for his brother to return like he did now.

"Estel, too. Is Ada alright?"

"It was…certainly not a good day. I could barely coax him to go to sleep, had to use one of his own sleeping teas to get him to lie down at all."

"He called Estel 'Elros' when he fell from the tree." Elladan offered his knowledge that he had gathered from Estel previously. There was a short pause in which Estel cracked his eyes open a fraction just to see the sorrow dawning on Elrohir's face.

"Oh…oh no." it was so quiet that Estel barely heard it, even from this short distance. "I wish he would have told me…"

"You know he doesn't like to talk about him…especially not to us." Especially to them? But why? This conversation only opened up more questions in Estel's brain.

"I know."

Estel regretted pretending to be asleep. Right now he wanted to go over there and hug them both, hoping to lift that regret and hurt from their expressions. There was a long pause between them and Elrohir leaned back in his chair a few times, making the front legs lift off the floor.

"Ro?"

"Yes?"

"When we make our decision-"

"You know we can't promise we'll make the same one. We've discussed this." Elladan sighed in resignation, drawing his hand over his face.

"I know. But we both know, if you were to chose mortality and I didn't…or the other way around…you've seen what happened to Ada."

Oh….oh! Estel really had to keep his breathing from hitching. This was about the choice of mortality that the half-elven had. Erestor had told him about this once and his memory on that lesson was springing back to the forefront of his mind while he tried to listen further. Was Elros Elrond's sibling? Or even his twin? Did Elrond's twin chose mortality while he remained elven? His heart stung at the thought.

"I know. But it's an individual choice. If your heart decides, we can't make a promise, it would doom the other for a whole different reason."

"I know, I just…"

"Me too."

A lot of unspoken things were in the room, but Estel saw that the twins communicated in non-verbal ways sometimes, and this seemed to be one of those cases. He saw their worry, though, and it helped a little that they at least hugged each other now, eyes closed and clearly still in thought.

"Shall we?"

"Yes. Sleep well, Estel. You can ask us further questions in the morning."

Damn. He should have known that they would detect him. Sometimes, living with elves sucked. He groaned when they pat his head and turned around to the other side.

At least he knew who Elros was now…even if he did not understand why Elrond confused him with his own brother. Or why this story left a deep feeling of sorrow in his gut.

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 _Tell me if you liked it! I might make this into a collection, any thoughts on that?_


End file.
